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The Daughter of Trivia
Fanfiction This is a fanfic for the Roman Eagle Wiki Fanfiction Contest, and a crossover with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's 'Beautiful Creatures'. *Second Place Winner of the Roman Eagle Fanfiction Wiki Contest!* story Jaz Duchannes didn't think her day could get any worse. She had no idea how wrong she was. Her day started pretty much like any other. But she knew it wouldn't be. Jaz's heart filled with hopeful exitement-it was her birthday. Her sixteenth birthday, to be exact. And it was going to be the most important day of her life. It had to be. Her thoughts were interupted by a pillow hitting her face. "Wake up, Jasmine." Jaz grit her teeth. She hated it when people called her Jasmine. She climbed out of her bunk in the fourth cohort barracks and faced her attacker. "Alison" Ali Jaser scowled down at her. She hated her full name too. Ali was a daughter of Fama, Roman Goddess of Fame and Gossip. She had long blond hair in ringlets, and cerulean eyes filled with malice. Of course, whenever a boy or legion official looked into them they saw only false innocence. "I hear it's your sixteenth birthday. You don't really think your godly parent will claim you today, do you? I don't even think you are a half-blood." Jaz shot to her feet. "Jaser, I sware-" "Now, girls, no need to get violent. Plenty of time for that this evening." The barracks advisor, Elena, shot Jaz a sharp look. Jaz reluctantly set down the Imperial Gold dagger she always kept by her bed. Ali smirked and went to get ready for breakfast. The worst thing was, Jaz had had similar fears. According to the legion veterans, Jaz had simply appeared in the forum sixteen years ago, to the day, swadalled in a purple cloth with her name embroidered in it, and her dagger tucked in. The knife was standard imperial gold. The only difference from anyone else's were the two small torches and cresent moon engraved into the side. She'd been at Camp Jupiter longer than almost anyone else in the legion, and yet she still wasn't claimed. But the sixteenth year was of utmost importance in Rome. She had to be claimed today. She''had'' to. The day went on normally at first. The mood was celabratory-only days before, Rome had defeated the Titans by toppling there mountain fortress, Othrys. She watched wistfully as the Senators walked toward the senate house. She'd been in the legion longer than both of the fourth cohort senators. If she was claimed, she probably would be a senator. She glanced shamefully down at her right forearm- 15 burnt lines, the letters SPQR, but nothing else. Nothing to mark her godly parent. She rolled down her sleeve and forced herself to think about something else. It was dinner now, and the surrounding tables filled with exited chatter-tonight the war game was deathball, a game similar to paintball, but with fire, poison, and other deadly projectiles. Finally, Reyna called for the end of the meal. Jaz had been sitting alone. She watched two figures walk toward the watchtower, a boy and girl, both of about thirteen. The boy had messy black hair and wore black jeans and an aviator's jacket, and the girl had curly orange hair almost the same color as her highlighter-neon orange leather jacket, and also wore black jeans- The Ambassador to Pluto and the Half-Blood Magician. Nico di Angelo got his nickname from the fact that he spent most of his time in the Underworld with his father, the Lord of the Dead, but no one really knew why that Stella girl called herself a magician. Jaz had never seen her with a rabbit or a hat. But anyway, they weren't aloud to play, as they weren't members of the legion. They weren't legion members, and neither of them was older than thirteen, and yet they were claimed. Jaz shook the thought out of her head. Jealousy got people nowhere. She followed the rest of her cohort down to the Field of Mars. The field was wrought with scars and wreckage from yesterday's game. They left it like that every night before deathball, to act as barricades. Elena handed her a poison-filled supersoaker while Reyna and the newer praetor, Jason Grace, went over the rules. They would actually be playing this game, because it was played individually instead of on teams. After instruction, the legionares all spread across the field. Come on, Jaz thought. The day was almost over, and she still hadn't gotten a sign. "Let the game begin!" The field exploded with poison and fire. Jaz immediatly melted the armor off of a couple of first-cohort boys. The medics carried them off. That was the target-weapons and armor. You weren't supposed to melt people's faces off or anything. The last person standing won, so these games usually took awile with two hundred-something Roman demigods and legacies playing. Jaz was pretty good at the game. That is, until she turned around and saw a jet of flame coming straight toward her face. Since her natural response would have been to duck, she wasn't sure where the latin came from, but she found herself shouting-"Incantare- Tego de Ignis!" The flames solidified into a wall in front of her, then dissipated, so she was standing in front of an open-mouthed Ali Jaser. Her fire blaster was still raised, but she was in no state to use it. "How..." Ali started. When the daughter of Fama was at a loss for words, you knew something was up. A few of the surrounding players had turned to look too. Demigods naturally understood Latin, so she knew what she'd said (Incantation: Shield of Flame). But what she didn't get was why she'd said it. Then there was a collective gasp from the surrounding observers. Jaz realized they were looking at the space just above her head. She looked up. The floating, glowing image bobbed when her head moved, like a balloon attached to a string, but she could see well enough- three crossroads, two torches, and a glowing purple moon, against a pure black backdrop. The symbols might have been unclear seperatly, but together it was obvious. The moon and torches... the symbols from her knife... why hadn't she seen it before? She had searched every book she had for a diety that matched the symbols, but she hadn't considered... "Trivia?" Everyone around her was staring at Jaz incredulously. She couldn't believe it. Even though her Greek form, Hecate, had a few children, the witch Circe and the Empousa demons, to name a couple, she was thought of by the Romans as a virgin goddess. And they took vows of maidenhood very seriously. She saw Reyna and Jason run over. "What's going-" then Reyna saw the symbol floating over her head. No one said anything for a few seconds. Finally Jason announced, "There has been a claiming. I give you Jasmine Duchannes, the daughter of Trivia!" He tried to sound festive, but Jaz could see pity in his eyes. Some of the gathered legionares were giving her dirty looks. Ali looked exited and smug. This would give her SO much gossiping material. "Someone get Octavian!" Reyna shouted. A first cohort girl ran off, then returned leading a scrawny blond boy. He looked bemused. "Yes, my praetors?" He said with forced reverence. Octavian, the camp augur, reminded Jaz of a male Ali- good with words, lying, and manipultion, but not much else. "There has been a claiming." Jason repeated. Octavian raised his eyebrows- now he looked mildly interested. Then he spotted Jaz, the symbols of Trivia slowly fading above her head. Now his interest looked more than mild. "Trivia? Goddess of Magic, Crossroads, and Dark Places? Also a maiden goddess, I believe." Like we didn't already know that, Jaz thought. Reyna shot the augur a sharp look. "Very well." Octavian walked toward Jaz. "We accept Jasmine Duchannes, Daughter of Trivia, into the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Do you pledge yourself to the Senate and People of Rome?" Jaz took a deep breath. "I do." Most of the camp had gathered, the game forgotten, and they shouted, "Senatus Populesque Romanus!" The skin on Jaz's arm glowed. It was painful, but she'd experienced it every year since she'd joined the legion, and she was sort of used to it. When the glow faded, a cresent moon was burned into her skin just above the letters 'SPQR'. Jaz was seriously miffed. She'd waited her whole life to be claimed by her godly parent. But Trivia? A maiden goddess. One of the gods that had sided with the titans '' for Jupiter's sake! "Hey, Duchannes. Sorta wishing you ''hadn't blocked my blaster now, huh?" Ali and two of her siblings laughed, but then stopped dead. (Unfortunately, not literally.) A horrible feeling had settled around the four demigods. They felt hopeless. Terrified. As good as dead. Then the feeling retreated so suddenly Jaz gasped. Ali and her sisters fell down, like they'd had it worse than her, but Jaz didnt really see how that was possible. "Leave her alone." A boy's voice from behind them. The girls turned to see Nico di Angelo and Stella. (She refused to reveal her last name.) The daughters of Fama fell over themselves running away. "Did-did one of you do that?" Jaz stuttered. Nico shrugged. "I only ment to get them. I really should work on centering my death aura on certain people." Jaz took a deep breath, still getting over the effects of Nico's 'death aura'. "Why did you help me?" Jaz asked. Nico and Stella exchanged glances. "Let's just say we both know what it feels like, when you're not supposed to exist." Stella said. "Great way to put it." Jaz muttered. Stella smiled. "Sorry. It's Jasmine, right? We couldn't really hear from the watchtower." "I prefer Jaz. Jaz Duchannes." Stella froze. "Duchannes?" Jaz nodded, confused. "It-it wouldn't happen to be your sixteenth birthday, would it?" "How did you know that?" Stella looked like she was trying not to hyperventilate. She looked panickedly toward the western horizon, where the sun was setting. "Is something wrong?" Nico asked. He looked as confused as Jaz felt. "I need to talk to Jaz. Privately." Stella grabbed Jaz's wrist and dragged her toward the Little Tiber before she or Nico could protest. "What?" Jaz asked when they finally stopped at the banks of the river. "Do you know who your mortal father is?" The question hit Jaz like a baseball bat to the face. "No." Then something occured to Jaz. "You do." Stella sighed. "I might." Then suddenly they were somewhere else. The room was long and narrow, like the great hall of an old fashioned castle, with a long, narrow table in the middle to match. At the table sat two people, a middle-aged man in a housecoat with graying hair and green eyes, and a teenage girl in a yellow tank top and jeans, with black hair. Her eyes were strange, one the same bright green as the man's, and one pure gold. They both looked up when Jaz and Stella flashed in. "Stella. I still don't see how you can do that without triggering the manor's security. Who is this?" The man asked. "This is Jaz. Jaz Duchannes." Stella said. "Impossible." The girl said immediatly. "That's not even half of it. She's a half blood, a daughter of the Magic Goddess. And it's her sixteenth birthday." "A Demigod Caster?" The man asked. "Whoa whoa whoa. Back it up. What's a Caster?" Jaz said. The man stood. "I am Macon Ravenwood. This is my niece, Lena Duchannes. A-" "Duchannes? We're related?" Jaz interrupted. The girl frowned. "Maybe." "Not maybe. Yes. Look at her eyes, if you don't believe me." Jaz's eyes shifted color from green to gold, depending on her mood. Lena looked into them and swallowed like she had a bad taste in her mouth. "As I was saying," the man, Macon, continued, "A Caster, to put it simply, is one that can perform magic. On a Caster's sixteenth birthday, or sixteenth moon, they choose what type of powers they will have, Light or Dark. Until recently, the Duchannes line had lost the ability to choose, but Lena broke that curse. So tonight, if Stella is correct, you must choose." "Light and Dark? Like good and evil?" Jaz asked. "Roughly." Macon answered. "Light, then. Who would choose Dark?" "What is all the noise? Some people are trying to sleep." The voice came from the doorway. Standing there was a girl with pink-streaked blond hair wearing a tight pink tank top and a black miniskirt, emphasis on the 'mini'. Seriously, this thing could be a belt. "Only you would still be asleep at this time of day, Rid." Lena said. The girl rolled her eyes, which were both golden like one of Lena's. Then her gaze landed on Jaz and Stella. "Half and Half! You should have told me we had guests, Cuz!" The girl said, her eyes briefly shifting to Lena. Stella grinned. "Hey, Ridley." "Half and Half?" Jaz asked Stella. "It's a refrence to my being a half blood. Rid likes to give people nicknames." She answered. "Who's she?" Ridley asked, gesturing to Jaz. "Turns out we have a long-lost relative. This is Jaz Duchannes. Jaz, this is my-our- cousin, Ridley Duchannes. She's a Dark Siren." "You-" then Jaz remembered what Macon had said about the curse. She changed her question to, "What's a Siren?" Ridley smiled. She licked a lolipop, which Jaz could have sworn hadn't been in her hand before. "Do a cartwheel." Jaz was about to say no, when she suddenly performed the gymnastics move. "Ridley, don't tease her." Lena said, giving her cousin a dissaproving look. "Sirens have the power of mind control. Your lucky your not a guy, or Rid would have made you do much worse." Stella said. Jaz shuddered at the thought. "Come, my dear." Macon said. "I believe we've a Claiming to prepare for. And Lena, would you contact Delphine?" Macon led Jaz out to the back yard, which was huge. There were ruins, and some of the plants looked like they'd been burned. Then she saw the moon. It was full, and climbing slowly in the sky's black backdrop, so they were obviously in a different time zone. The light was beautiful, and compelled Jaz to look at it. She stood there staring until Lena walked out of the manor house, leading a plump woman about Macon's age. "Jasmine, this is my sister Delphine. I believe she may be able to divine who your father is." Macon said. "What's going on, Macon? I got to Gatlin as fast as I could, but Lena was so vague in her message." Macon explained the situation. Delphine looked a bit nervous, but nodded. "Yes, I should be able to see." Delphine took Jaz's hands, and her eyes lost focus. Then she suddenly dropped them and stumbled back, gasping. "Hunting." She got out between gasps. "Hunting what?" Jaz asked. "Hunting Ravenwood. My brother." Macon said. "But if his last name is Ravenwood, why is mine Duchannes?" Jaz asked. "Every female Caster in the Duchannes and Ravenwood lines take the last name Duchannes." Lena explained. "But Uncle Hunting was an incubus, not a Caster." Ridley, who'd followed Lena and Delphine into the yard, said. "But his mother was a Caster. I guess Trivia's magical blood made his Caster blood more prominent. Because she is NOT a succubus." Stella said. "What?" Jaz had understood about half of the words Stella'd said. "An incubus is like a vampire. Same thing with a succubus." "Um... okay. Is-is Hunting here?" Jaz asked. Macon looked at the ground. Everyone looked like they were trying to decide what to tell her. "Uncle Hunting died last year, new girl." Rid said finally. Jaz's heart sank. Her father was dead. Then suddenly the moonlight brightened. Everyone stepped away from Jaz. "It is time to choose, Jasmine." Macon said. Jaz nodded. She was still processing all of this, but she got that this was a once in a lifetime thing. No going back. She stepped into a shaft of moonlight and thought with all her heart- Light. A warm feeling spread throughout Jaz, like every bit of sunlight and happiness in the world was being directed straight at her. She felt herself being lifted into the air. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun. She dropped to the ground. Lena helped her up. "Congratulations." She handed her a compact. Jaz flipped it open and looked into the mirror. Her eyes, usually a mix of green and gold, had turned bright emerald. "We should probably be getting back to Camp." Stella said. "Ya, I guess." Jaz replied. "You're welcome at Ravenwood Manor any time, my dear." Macon said. "I'll definitely be back soon." Jaz said, smiling. "Come on." Stella said, taking Jaz's hand. Then they were back at Camp Jupiter, though it was much later. The moon was as high as it had been at Ravenwood Manor. "Thanks, Stella." Jaz said. "Anytime." Jaz continued to visit Ravenwood Manor every chance she got. She ate with Stella and Nico whenever they were both at Camp, instead of by herself. Her whole life she'd been ostracised because she was unclaimed, or now because of who her mother was, but now she finally had friends, and a family who accepted her for who she was. And she couldn't have been happier. Category:Fanfiction Category:Nickystellar Category:The Roman Eagle Wiki Fanfiction Contest Category:Crossovers Category:The Half-Blood Magician